By Pa Louis Thomasi.
“The Youths are happy”. Are the youths really happy? I listened with keen interest to the interview of the Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof with Peter Gomez on West Coast radio, and no doubt, the interview raised more questions than answers. No matter how hard the minister had tried to beautify this novel labour concept, the worrying signs outweighed all the decorative ornaments that the minister showcased. First let me emphasise without any form of reservation that as a journalist and trade unionist I have no problems with labour migration, as recent statistics across Africa have revealed that migrant workers are contributing significantly to the economies of their countries through remittances. In some African countries, remittances are already more than 50% of the national budget, helping to improve the livelihood of family members and even helping with small scale development projects at the village level.
Despite this acknowledgement, I am against any form of labour migration that will rob the migrants of their fundamental human rights, their dignity and integrity and force them into wanton exploitation that degrades them to “sub-human beings”. We are not ignorant of what had happened in Qatar prior to the world cup, as well as in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia concerning migrant workers who were extremely brutalised and dehumanised with their government being able to do little or nothing to remedy the situation. It is on record that migrant workers in the Gulf in general are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, irrespective of their country of origin.
My greatest concern about the Minister’s interview was that he was not able to delve much into the Bilateral Labour Migration Agreements (BLMAs) that the Government of the Gambia had signed with Spain, Saudi Arabia or Qatar or about to sign with these countries. Normally, before the movement of labour migrants are initiated BLMAs are signed, which actually specify the types of work that they will do. In most instances the BLMAs will also indicate the payments and modalities of the payments. However, one serious deficit that countries of origin have with these BLMAs, especially those coming from the Gulf, is that there is no form of consultation in drafting the BLMAs.
The BLMAs however, must “describe in detail the specific responsibilities of each of the parties and the actions to be taken by them with a view to accomplishing their specific goals in terms of governance of labour migration”. The BLMAs must also spell out the roles of the responsible government ministries (in our case the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment) and the agencies in both the country or origin and destination.
What exits in reality though, is that the BLMAs are almost cast in stone and hence require scrutiny and the shrewdness of the country of origin to be able to thoroughly comprehend the terms and conditions and negotiate flexible terms for their citizens. It should not be forced on any government, either should it be a take it or leave it situation. Most African governments had recently swallowed the BLMAs from the Gulf, (especially Saudi Arabia) hook, line and sinker, simply because they had thoroughly failed to create jobs for the youths at home and thus jumped onto such opportunities irrespective of the consequences. It is evident that African governments are often too weak to negotiate better terms for their citizens. For example in Saudi Arabia, the minimum wage for a Filipino domestic worker is 1500 Riyals which is equivalent to US $ 400. During the interview on West Coast radio, Minister Joof mentioned that Gambian migrants to Saudi Arabia (who will be doing the same type of domestic work as the Filipinos) will receive US $200. This has nothing to do with experience or inexperience as stated by the minister. Wages are negotiated. The US $ 400 for Filipino domestic workers was simply negotiated by the Philippines government. Period. What you negotiate is what you get. Ugandans on the other hand receive 900 Riyals which is equivalent to US $ 240 and still better than the proposed US $ 200 that the Gambians will receive. Minister Joof indicated during the interview that the Saudis do not know much about “us” and would like to know about the work attitude of Gambians. Did I hear you well Mr. Minister? This statement should be taken with a pinch of salt. Gambians have been going to work in Saudi Arabia since the early 80s or even before that and had already built a respectable reputation there.
Gambians fighting to get passport to go to Spain and the Gulf
Minister Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof should have been able to shed more light on the BLMAs. Has the Gambia government been able to make an input in the BLMAs? What are the roles of the Agencies with regards to the BLMAs? What types of labour rights does the BLMAs guarantee? These questions must come to the fore in order to minimise calamities. A standard practice is that the BLMAs should respect and promote workers’ human rights, most especially the elimination of forced labour and the abuse and exploitation of workers. Even though the crude Kafala system has been upgraded to meet certain ILO expectations, as exemplified by the Kingdom’s ratification of the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention (C187) on June 4, 2024 and will come into force in Saudi Arabia in June 2025, implementation of these core conventions as regards migrant workers can still be very complex in Saudi Arabia.
Noting the complexities shrouded in the BLMAs it is expedient that the Minister should make the BLMAs available to the public for scrutiny. Please do not tell us that these documents are confidential. They are not. The public has the right to know about these agreements signed on their behalf and the Access to Information Act gives every citizen the right to have access to such documents. So please make the Spain, Saudi and Qatar BLMAs available to the public as soon as possible.
A word of caution Mr. Minister. I would strongly advise that your ministry develop an effective monitoring mechanism with regards to the operation of the agencies in the recruitment process. The recruitment agencies across Africa are very unscrupulous and the most corrupt that you can find anywhere on the planet. Recruitment agencies are notorious for charging exorbitant “application fees” which are illegal. Fraudulent recruitment practices including the charging of exorbitant fees to prospective migrants and other related costs are totally unacceptable. In Uganda for example, government insisted that the recruitment fees from the agencies should be within the range of $ 6 – $10 and nothing more. There are already rumours flying high in Banjul that recruitment agencies and their cronies, the greedy and unscrupulous middlemen. are already asking prospective migrants for D 5000 ( Five Thousand Dalasis). Am sure the recruitment fees for Spain will triple the Gulf fees. Honourable Minister, if possible, do everything in your power to ensure that all activities from notorious middlemen are eliminated in the recruitment process. All prospective migrants must deal directly with the agencies so that they can be easily monitored in case of fraud.
Minister Joof during the interview made specific mention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). I am very sure that Minister Joof is aware that the ILO is the only tripartite UN organisation, allowing governments, employers and workers to sit face to face and deliberate about fair working conditions. In this regard, I would like to ask the minister if the Gambia Workers’ Confederation (GWC) or any other national centre, who are the real representatives of the workers have been involved in any form of negotiations concerning the export of Gambian labour to the Gulf? If not, please get them involved as soon as possible because these are the unions that defend workers’ rights.
Decent working conditions, safety and fair wages are fundamental human rights that must be respected in every form of service delivery and such rights must be safeguarded at all cost.